Barnalaਬਰਨਾਲਾ

History

Barnala is named after Baba Ala Singh — the founder of Patiala State — and its history begins with him. In 1775 Ala Singh established Barnala as his capital, moving from the earlier settlement of Anahadgarh; the town's Qila Mubarak — the 'Blessed Fort' — dates to this founding. After Ala Singh's death the capital moved to Patiala, but Barnala remained important: under the Patiala princely state it served as a district headquarters, with the courts, revenue offices and institutions a district town required.

In independent India Barnala was a sub-division of Sangrur district for decades — until 19 November 2006, when Barnala district was carved out as Punjab's twentieth district, restoring the town's historic status as a district headquarters. The new district took Barnala, Tapa and Mehal Kalan from Sangrur, and the town celebrated the restoration of a status it had held under the rajas.

Geography & people

Barnala lies in central Malwa, on the roads linking Ludhiana, Sangrur, Bathinda and Moga, with a railway station on the Dhuri–Jakhal line — the natural meeting point of the region's trade routes. The 2011 census counted 116,449 residents in the municipal council, making it one of Malwa's larger cities. Punjabi is the everyday language; Sikhs form the majority. The economy is notably industrial for the region: the Trident Group's massive textile complex and Standard Combines' agricultural-machinery works are among Punjab's biggest industrial employers, alongside the grain market.

Places of interest

The Qila Mubarak — Ala Singh's fort — is Barnala's heritage landmark. The town's old core preserves the princely-town layout, with the district courts and administrative buildings carrying forward its headquarters role. The industrial estates on the outskirts — textiles, agricultural machinery — are the modern attraction. The town's parks and its busy bazaars serve a district capital's population, and the railway station on the Dhuri–Jakhal line keeps it linked to Ludhiana and the Delhi direction.

Notable people

Baba Ala Singh (1691–1765), the founder of Patiala State who made Barnala his capital in 1775, is the town's founding figure — its very name is his. The Qila Mubarak he built still anchors the old town, two and a half centuries on. Ram Sarup Ankhi, the Sahitya Akademi-winning Punjabi novelist, belonged to the Barnala region and set much of his fiction in its villages — Malwa's soil runs through his pages. In the modern era the town's industrialists — the Trident Group's founders — have carried Barnala's name into India's business pages.